Improvement in railway-car brakes



P. EULER.

Railway Gar Brakes.

PatentedJune16',18-74.

AM. HMTU-AMIOGIMIIIIL' 00. IM )1 (0550/01/53- M00552) U ITED. STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

PETER EULEE, OF GREEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, AssIeNon or ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT To THOMAS DE OODEZO, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,093, dated June 16, 1874; application filed May 21, 1874. i

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER EULEE, of Green Island, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Brakes and Detaching Apparatus for Railway-Cars and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a bottom view of a railway-car with this safety apparatus attached, partly in section. the same. Fig. 3 is a sect-ion of the brakeshoe. Fig. 4isa sectional elevation of the mechanism for automatically settin g the brakes, and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of one of the coupling-hooks and detaching-lever.

The same letters are employed in all the figures in the indication of identical parts.

This invention relates to a safety apparatus designed to work automatically for disengaging railway cars which may be thrown from the track from the portion of the train remaining on the track, and at the same time setting the brakes on the ears thus thrown off, to check their momentum; and it consists in the combination, with a lever extending from one car to another, of mechanism for disengaging he coupling-hooks, and also other mechanism for setting 'the brakes when the lever is shifted by the fall of one car from the track.

In the annexed drawings, A and A designate the floor-frames of two connected railway-cars, the connection being by means of the two opposed hooks B B engaging notches or recesses in the buffer-head O, which is bolted rigidly to the frame of the car. This part of the mechanism is well known. A lever, D, may be used to disengage the hooks by hand, as it acts directly on one and through the cross-head lever E on the other. The shape of this lever E is distinctly shown in Fig. 5. Its short arm is connected by the link F with the hook B, and its long arm bears against the head of the other lever, B, when engaged as shown in Fig. 1. The stem of the lever E is attached to achain, F, which passes around the sheave G, and is fastened to the bent lever I-l, having its fulcrum at H, and extend Fig. 2 is an elevation and section of ing forward so far that when the cars are coupled it shall be held between two lugs, H H, bolted to the frame of the platform of the next car. The bent leg of the lever H is placed in such relation to the sheave G that the chain F will be drawn around the sheave, whether the free end of the lever H is deflected to the right or left. A short chain, I, is fastened to chain F, and its free end is fastened to the detent K at one side of the fulcrum, while on the other side detent K is connected by a link with the lever L, against which a spring, L bears, while a rope, L extending therefrom, is carried to the locomotive. The detent K engages the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, M, on the shaft N. This shaft maybe turned by means of a pinion. O, engaging the bevelwheel P on the shaft 1?, which extends through the platform, and may be revolved by the hand-wheel, thus winding up the spring X, Fig. 1, which is coiled around the shaft P,

and bears, through the wheels I? and O, on

the shaft N, so as to revolve when the spring X is allowed to act by the disengagement of the latch from the teeth of the ratchet-wheel M. This disengagement may occur either by drawing on the rope L or automatically by the rope or chain I connected with the lever H, whenever the latter is shifted to right or left. Then the ratchet M is disengaged, the shaft N, revolving, will wind up the chain Q, which is attached to the brake. This is of that class in which the braking is done by means of a cross-bar, R, acting on steel bands S S, drawn around grooved friction-wheels S S on the axle of the car. The braking apparatus may, for common use, be operated by hand through the chain T connecting the bar R with the shaft and hand-wheel U.

The mode of operating this mechanism is as follows: When the spring X has been wound up to sufficient tension the chain Q is attached to the shaft N so as to leave a little slack, only sufficient to allow the hand-brake to be set. In this position it is held by the detent K, and may be used, like other well-known safety-brakes, by means of the rope L. In case the car A should be thrown from the track the lugs H will cause the levers H to be shifted either to the right or left, according to the direction of divergence oi. the car, and in either ease it will draw on the chain F, and thus, through the lever E, force open the hooks and detach the train. At the same time, d a wing on chain 1, it will disengage the detent 1C, and free the spring, which will cause the shaft N to wind up the chain Q and set the brakes so as to check the momentum of the car.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with cars A A the lever II, so connected as to be shifted to oneside or the other upon the divergence of the ears, and the chain I, and dctent K, which, restraining the action of a spring, when withdrawn brings it into operation to act upon the brakes ot the ear, substantially as described.

2. Applied to the brake mechanism of a car, the combination of lever B, the sheave G,

chain F, and lever E, for disengaging the car and automatically setting the brake, as set forth.

3. In combination with the chains F and I and sheave Gr, for simultaneously operating the brake and coupling-hooks, the lever H, to draw on the chain, the lever being shifted to right or left, as set forth.

4. The detent K, holding the spring, in combination with the lever L, rope L chain I, and lever II, for releasing the automatic braking mechanism, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PETER EULER.

Witnesses I). I. HOLLOWAY, B. Enw. J. EILs. 

